India, May 4 -- In West Bengal, where rajpather rajneeti (street politics) marked by rallies and violent agitations, or desolate roads during general strikes (bandhs), steered the course of post-Independence governance - from the Congress to the Left Front in 1977 and then from the Communists to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 2011 - Mamata Banerjee stood out as a street fighter who led her folk from the front to defeat adversaries.

West Bengal is set to vote in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a party in power at the Centre to rule the state for the first time in 49 years. The decisive rejection of Banerjee's 15-year-old government has been largely fuelled by strong anti-incumbency, allegations of rampant corruption and possibly the co...